Sovietwarplanes

Finally I've put the finishing touches on this build. It really is a fine kit. The only thing I'm not thrilled about is that even though they give you a split canopy to display open cockpit, it doesn't fit AT ALL in the open position.
Thankfully, it DOES come with a gunsight, so I didn't have to go through the work that Libor did on his MiG  ;D. Comments and criticism welcome.

(http://www.jet-visa.com/TSH/La7a.jpg)


(http://www.jet-visa.com/TSH/La7b.jpg)


(http://www.jet-visa.com/TSH/La7c.jpg)


(http://www.jet-visa.com/TSH/La7d.jpg)


(http://www.jet-visa.com/TSH/La7e.jpg)


(http://www.jet-visa.com/TSH/La7f.jpg)

Hi Jet, :)
thank you for sharing the images of your model. I would suggest to check the alignment of landing gear legs, and to find a better system to reproduce the wire aerials, that should be thinner and tensioned. Maybe the hair of a doll...
Massimo

Massimo et al,
I would love to hear any and all suggestions regarding the aerials! What's shown in the photo is the FIFTH attempt to reproduce them with any semblance of accuracy; it is stretched sprue (and doesn't look as big in real life as in the photos). I also tried 1lb test fishing monofiliment which bent the mast when tightening it up, copper wire strand which was perfectly sized, yet refused to stay straight & thread of several types (cotton, nylon, polyester).

I would really like input on this issue because I have a Toko LaGG-3, Coopertiva La-5, Zvedza La-5FN, and an ICM I-5 which will all require rigging of a similar type. (the plan is to do one example of each aircraft produced by Zavod 21/Sokol this year to present as a set to my Father-in-law for the New Year holiday)

Hi, :)
this is a bit difficult. For my I-153, I've obtained a good and strong result by inserting nylon wires before building into holes that allowed tensioning, and then immobilizing them by cyanoacrilate, cutting and sanding the protrusions before painting. This could be done on the tail and fuselage, but not on the antenna mast.
I really suggest to utilize the hair of a doll that is thinner. To tension it, you could glue the antenna mast slightly inclined forward, so, when the wire is tensioned, it bends slightly rearwards. To obtain an acceptable strength, the wire should pass all around the mast. Tensioners and other thicker parts should be done simply by thicker paint.
However, it's a work that I hate.
Massimo

Thanks for the reply Massimo.
Your doll hair suggestion gave me an idea that I'd like to try tonight. I have several nylon bristle house painting brushes that seem to have a more suitable diameter, so I'll steal a few hairs from one of them and CA glue them in place. Understand that this is only second model I've completed after break of more than 20 years  :o so I'm learning everything as I go. I had some disappointment last night when doing research for I-16 at http://wp.scn.ru/en/ww2/f. I built this La-7 following Eduard box art, and now it seems that this paint scheme was that of La-5FN and not La-7, further, the dark color is more grey than blue-grey, so Eduard description is completely wrong  :'( Anyway, the research is interesting and now I see how important it is. I have put the 1/32 MiG-3 away for now, until I'm confident I can do it properly. I will refine my skills on these smaller birds for now.

Hi Jet, :)
I think that the light grey is not too good. On bw photos, it appears darker than the light blue, and is known to have a bluish shade.
I would suggest to avoid dark shadows to weather the model.
Funny to say, the most likely weathering visible on photos of real planes are repaintings, as the corrections made by an unskilled modeler, not the classic weathering with soft dark lines on panels that one can see on a lot of models. Most ww2 warplanes simply didn't last enough to show such shades.
Massimo

Hi Jet,

Thank you for showing us your model.  It certainly captures the strong appearance of the La-7.  Well done.

Massimo mentioned that you may want to look for thinner antenna material.  Here is a photo of my La-7.  I use very fine stainless steel wire for the antenna.  The diameter is .008 inches.  It is applied with fine drops of super glue.  On 1/72 scale models, I have been very pleased with the appearance.  Also, I mounted the canopy in the open position.  I made sure that it was compressed until the glue was dry.  To me it looks acceptable.  Keep up the good work.

Clare

(http://www.geocities.com/cewentzel/La-7.jpg)

Hi Clare,  :)
good model indeed. Could you send more photos, please?
Is that steel wire as that of guitars wires?
Massimo

I will be glad to send you some more pictures of my model Massimo.  It was, of course, the Eduard kit and assembled like a dream although some of the smaller PE parts seemed to disappear under my finger nails etc.   8)

The wire that I used was thin stainless steel wire, not guitar wire.  It can be obtained from Great Models Webstore among other sources.  One of their offerings is from a company named Sea Bird.  The part number is CBE72 - 1/72 CBE72 Scale .004 Stainless Steel Wire for Rigging.  They also have .008 wire.  The advantage of wire is that it is rigid.  All you do is cut it to length and add a drop of CA on each end and then carefully lay it in place.

I use it on most of my models, including biplanes.  You can see some of them on my web site. http://www.geocities.com/cewentzel/

Clare

Hi Clare, :)
I had a look to your site, I didn't know it.
There are many beautiful models. My compliments for them.
Unfortunately some menus looks to have not been uploaded or are unreadable by my browser, so I had to navigate with the updates menu and didn't find your La-7. Could you give the direct link, please?
I saw two beautiful photos of your I-15 Chato. Wouldn't you write a review and building report to make some company to my I-15bis and I-153, please?
Massimo

Ah she is a beauty alright, but what in the name of Lavochkins double chin happened to your landing gear (no offense the rest of the La-7 is mint)? :'(

Dave.

Hi Massimo,

Sorry that I have not been back to this site for a few months.  Yes, I will make a write-up to go along with the photos of the I-15 along with some more photos of my La-7.

Clare

Hi Clare, :)
it will be welcome.
Massimo